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Lineup advice Topic

In a dual-season progressive, my Philadelphia Weavers has two catchers - Luke Sewall and Wally Schang both of 1926 (the league is 1926/76).

Sewall has 525 PA and hits .238 and bats right handed. Schang has 350 PA, hits .330 and with 8 HRs and has an OBP over .400. He is a switch-hitter.

Now the issue is this: Given Schang's OBP I would like to get him in the lineup and bat him early in the order, but am concerned about his low PA.

Logically, I could platoon the two catchers, but 350 is a low amount of PA for the LH part of the platoon, and if Schang bats second or third, with some power hitters behind him, I am concerned that I won't nearly maximize using him, since he will be fatigued very easily and well before he gets to 350.

But batting him further down in the order does not take advantage of his OBP. Platooning him as the RH part of the platoon, pretending in a sense that both he and Sewell are RH would get the most out of his 350 probably, but mean that 3 games of four I have a weak hitting RH batting catcher in the order.

Any thinking on the best way to organize this in order to get the most out of Schang this season ?

Without knowing the rest of your lineup, it's tough to say, but I would probably hit him 8th (9th if there is a DH). I think at the very bottom of the order, you can still take advantage of his OBP. Even if he doesn't score a ton of runs, that OBP will turn the lineup over more often and allow the top of your order to get more at bats in decent to good hitting situations. Given the low number of PA, I think the lower in the order the better to maximise his production

If you want a reference point, I have done something similar in the Homecoming League we are both in. It's not identical, but I have been hitting Lou Boudreau (real life .349 OBP) and Owen Friend (real life .312 OBP) in a platoon. I have been batting Bobby Doerr 2nd and through 58 games, he has 69 RBI. Boudreau has started 29 games and has scored 16 runs and is hitting .308 with a .352 OBP.

These are all very good ideas and some of them are not mutually exclusive. I thank TJ, byeags and foolishfool for all your suggestions. For the moment I had Schang batting 7th, ahead of Howard Freigau and Claudell Washington (there is a DH) against RH pitchers. But combining your suggestions I think I can come up with a better approach than that.

Thanks. As to the rest of the lineup, it is not exactly murderer's row - some good hitting: Frisch, George Kelly, Chambliss and Jim Rice, Ken Williams - so some power, though relative to other teams not a great deal, and some decent averages but mostly .280 - .300 types. I don't have unrealistic expectations, but do want to maximize what I have as this team should at least have a shot at a wildcard in this league.